Snow Day
by SkinwalkerSkiddo
Summary: Snowball fights and shower sex. Rick/Daryl


_ Author's Notes: This goes along with another story I wrote, Molasses Mornings, so it'll make more sense if you read that one first. Hope you enjoy this big pile of wintry fluff! And if you are on tumblr and like TWD (especially Rick/Daryl) then stop by my page and say hi! I need more cool people to follow. :) I'm skinwalkerskiddo on tumblr too._

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Daryl was up to his wrists in hot blood as he bled and field dressed a fat doe that he and Rick had been tracking all morning before Daryl fired the killing shot with his crossbow.

Rick stood over Daryl as he worked, a rifle slung over his shoulder and his Colt drawn, keeping watch and shifting from foot to foot to try and keep his own blood flowing.

Christ it was cold.

Daryl split the doe open up the middle and started cutting the organs free. "You ever hunt wood ducks? Those things are fucking _fast_. And tiny. They're good eating though."

"Nah, deer and turkey's about the only thing we ever hunted. And I was never very good at getting them either." He added with a self-deprecating smile.

"Well you're a damn fine hunter now. Remember that big buck back last fall? You tracked him for miles before dropping him with one shot clean through the heart."

Rick watched Daryl from the corner of his eye. The scarf wrapped around the other man's face was pulled down far enough for a crumpled cigarette to hang out of his chapped lips.

"I learned from the best."

Daryl rolled his eyes and the cherry on the cigarette glowed brightly as he took a long drag on it. He finished pulling the innards out of the deer and tossed them aside. "Flattery ain't getting you anywhere, chief."

"Don't hurt to try. It's worked before." He added with a smirk.

Daryl huffed out a breath that fogged the air around him. He rolled the deer over to lay spread eagle on its stomach so the dark blood inside the empty abdominal cavity would drain out.

Daryl crouched down and scooped up some snow to scrub the blood off his skin. Rick handed him a rag that he dried his hands off with before shoving them back into his gloves. He used the same rag to wipe his knife clean and then tucked it back into the sheath on his hip.

Rick held out a hand and helped Daryl to his feet. "Come on, let's head back to the love nest."

Daryl groaned and shoved at Rick with his shoulder. "Don't call it that."

Rick grinned. "I think it's a fine name."

"Well you sure as hell ain't gonna get _any _if you keep calling it that."

Each man grabbed one of the doe's rear legs and they started dragging her back to the truck that they had parked about a mile away just before dawn that morning. There were already a few squirrels, rabbits, and even a goose that they had taken earlier in the day in the truck bed. They were tucked away in a large cooler and secured with a bungie cord in case any passing walkers came by to investigate.

The thick snow crunched under their feet as they walked across one of the open fields where they had been baiting game in with corn. The corn had barely been touched and the only tracks to be seen were their own and those from the doe they had just taken.

"Too damn cold to be foolin' around anyway." Daryl said with a sigh like he'd been considering it. He flicked the butt of his cigarette away and pulled his scarf back up over his nose and mouth.

Rick chuckled. "S'nice way to warm up if ya ask me."

"Didn't ask you though did I?" Daryl's narrowed eyes had a playful spark to them that gave his amusement away as he grinned behind the scarf.

Rick laughed and adjusted the gun on his shoulder with his free hand. The butt of the rifle bumped against his thigh as he walked.

It started to snow again.

Damn weather had gone to shit since the world ended. The summers were hotter and drier and the winters were colder and wetter than either man ever remembered them being.

At least the cold seemed to slow the walkers a bit. Not enough to really matter in the long run but every second counts when you are in a tight spot.

Daryl caught Rick's eye and nodded behind them.

A small group of half a dozen or so of the undead were shuffling stiffly towards them from the woods on the far side of the field, a few hundred yards away. They were tripping over themselves and crashing into the snow trying to get a sniff of the thin trail of blood left behind by the doe before she dropped dead from the arrow in her chest.

Rick and Daryl stopped to watch them as they reached the pile of offal Daryl cleaned out of the doe. It was still warm and steaming and a couple of the walkers fell down on their knees to inspect it.

The rest continued after Rick and Daryl.

Daryl sighed and started walking again. Rick fell in step with him and they drug the deer back to the truck.

Then they waited for the walkers to finally catch up to them. Once they did both men quickly dispatched the undead with arrows and knives.

No sense leading them back home.

Nearly three months had passed since they found the tree house tucked high up in the wild appalachian hills. They were far off the beaten path and had yet to encounter another living soul. And just a very few of the undead ones.

The old logging trail that led up the steep hill to their home was treacherous in this weather but their truck had four-wheel drive and with a few prayers, some false starts, and a dash of creative swearing they finally made it back to the gate.

Once inside the fence with the gate secured behind them they parked the truck and began unloading their gear.

A sharp whistle cut through the cold air and as Rick and Daryl turned they were both nailed by sloppy wet snow slush, Daryl in the head and Rick in the chest.

Spluttering and cursing a blue streak Daryl glared up at the tree house deck where both Carl and Beth were hiding behind an overturned table, their eyes shining with mischief.

"Snowball fight!"

Daryl ducked as another snowball sailed past his head and he and Rick both scrambled towards the little tool shed that sat about a dozen yards away from the tree house.

They were both cold and tired after being out hunting for hours and they still had the game in the bed of the truck to tend to but neither man had the heart to make the teenagers stop, especially once they caught sight of Beth up on the deck. Her cheeks were rosy from the freezing air and she was grinning and laughing brightly for the first time in ages. Carl was laughing too and looking like the child he really was and not the hardened man this world was trying to make him be too soon.

Rick looked over his shoulder at Daryl, who gave him a nod and a crooked grin.

And so they had a snowball fight.

Growing up in a time where good aim meant the difference between life and death had made the kids pretty damn fine shots. And with the high ground and a mountain of pre-made ammunition piled next to them they were definitely winning.

Rick and Daryl were soaked from head to toe after just a few minutes and Daryl was pretty sure he was going to have a black eye after getting clocked in the head again.

"Stop aiming for my damn face!" He barked gruffly but his grin gave away his amusement.

As it turned out, Beth and Daryl were absolutely ruthless in snowball fights. Daryl knocked Carl's hat off and nearly knocked him off his feet with a monstrous snowball that Rick was amazed he managed to throw that far. And then Beth damn near hit Rick in some rather sensitive anatomy when he made a dash to collect more snow.

"_Careful!_"

"Sorry!" She smiled sweetly even as she nailed him with a soppy wet ball of slush right in the chest.

Rick laughed and hit her in the shoulder with a baseball-sized snowball but he didn't even get to relish the victory before he slipped rather spectacularly on a patch of ice and fell flat on his ass.

Despite the pain in his jarred spine and the barrage of snowballs flying around him, he lay sprawled on his back and laughed until there were tears in his eyes.

Daryl threw several snowballs that sent the kids ducking behind their table before crouching down on his knees in the snow next to Rick.

"Alright?"

Daryl's cheeks were red and his hair was soaked with slush but his expression so carefree that it made him look years younger. Rick grinned up at him and pulled him down for a kiss.

"Yeah. Better than I've been in a long time."

An explosion of cold and wet hit Rick and Daryl, making them break apart with gasps and curses. Carl pumped his fist triumphantly and Beth erupted into a fit of breathless laughter.

Daryl had an armload of snow ready to go for a retaliation when Judith's loud cry of discontent came from inside the house. They all called an unsteady truce while Beth went to check on her and Daryl helped Rick to his feet.

"Bet you're ass is gonna be sore tomorrow." He frowned and brushed some snow out of Rick's hair.

"Hah, it's pretty sore now. And not even in the nice way." He winked and Daryl's flushed cheeks grew a shade redder.

They walked towards the ladder that led up to the tree house deck. Rick went first, moving quickly but carefully on the slick rungs. Once on the deck he turned to look Daryl over.

"Your eye's already getting purple."

"Shit I ain't surprised. Those two've got brutal arms on them." There was a sense of pride in Daryl's voice that made Rick smile.

After changing into dry clothes and checking in on Beth and Judith—who erupted into a fit of giggles when Daryl stuck his freezing fingers on Beth's neck, making her shriek—they enlisted Carl to help them put away their kills before the dark of night crept up on them.

The evening was spent doing a final perimeter check (not a single walker in sight), skinning, butchering, and cooking a few venison steaks for dinner. Rick was moving a little stiffly and Daryl definitely had the beginnings of a brilliant shiner but they were all in good moods, even with Carl and Beth teasing them about being too old to be any fun.

Daryl kept his leg pressed close against Rick's as they ate their dinner.

Leaving the teenagers to tend to the kitchen cleanup after they all finished eating—punishment for "elder abuse" according to Daryl—Rick and Daryl slipped off to the shower at the other end of the house. Rick lit a couple of candles so they could see in the dark little room and they both stripped down quickly. Daryl watched Rick's every move closely.

"You're damn lucky you didn't break your tailbone out there."

"I'll live. Might be hobbling' around stiff as a board come morning but I'm fine now. How's your eye?"

Daryl snorted as Rick turned to face him before he could answer, pushing his hair back out of the way to inspect the damage. His eyelid was swollen and there was a deep purple stain blooming just under his eyebrow.

"Didn't help my good looks none but it ain't bad. Quit fussing and go on 'n get in." He herded Rick towards the shower stall and got the water running. It wasn't as hot as their aches and pains craved, but at least it was warm.

Rick couldn't stop the groan that rumbled up out of him as Daryl began rubbing his shoulders with soapy fingers.

"Oh fuck me, that's good."

Daryl snickered and focused on loosening the knots he found in Rick's shoulders.

The broad sweeps of warm palms across slick skin and the digging strokes of thick fingers into sore muscles went on and on but soon the touches turned from comforting to decidedly arousing. Rick turned and pulled a smirking Daryl under the spray and into a deep kiss.

Daryl's soap slick fingers teased down Rick's belly to tug at dark curls before wrapping around his half hard dick. Rick leaned in close, seeking out another kiss and curling his own fingers around Daryl's cock.

They jerked each other off while trading sloppy, enthusiastic kisses and Rick would have been perfectly happy finishing that way but Daryl seemed to have other ideas. He bit Rick's lower lip before pulling away with a mischievous smirk at Rick's sound of annoyance.

Daryl's hair was slicked down over his face and a steady stream of water dripped from the scruff on his chin. He watched Rick with dark, heavy-lidded eyes for a moment before turning his back to him and bracing his hands against the tiled wall.

Rick took the hint and pressed close, sighing softly as his slick cock rubbed against Daryl's ass.

Rick worked him open with gentle fingers, stroking and teasing until Daryl's flanks trembled and his sides heaved as he sucked in fast breaths.

"Rick. C'mon, hurry up."

The arch of his spine was a thing of beauty as Rick eased into him. When he stilled to let him adjust to the stretch Daryl bent further at the waist and rested his forehead against his wrist.

Rick leaned forward to mouth and suck at the tattooed and scarred and freckled flesh of Daryl's shoulders. He breathed in the damp heat of him and crooned softly against his skin.

Daryl sucked in a breath through his nose and shuddered. He rolled his hips back and a soft groan slipped past his lips as Rick's cock slid that much deeper into him.

Rick rubbed his thumb in easy circles over Daryl's hipbone while his other hand stroked down the curve of his ass to where they were joined to tease at sensitive, stretched skin. He pulled back, nearly pulling all the way out, just to watch his dick sink back into tight heat as he slowly thrust forward again. And then again. "Fuck you're gorgeous."

Daryl growled in warning but spread his legs a fraction wider and pushed back. "_Rick._"

Rick pressed closer and bit sharp kisses into Daryl's back. He began pounding into him with harsh thrusts that had Daryl pressing his hands against the tile and bracing his feet to keep from losing his balance and slipping.

The wet slap of skin on skin was loud in the small space and Daryl swallowed a choked off moan when Rick wrapped an arm around his waist and tilted his hips back so he could get at him at a better angle.

Rick panted against Daryl's shoulder and scraped his teeth against an old, raised scar.

"Wanna see you touch yourself while I'm fucking you, Daryl. Come on, get a hand around that nice dick of yours for me."

He punctuated his request with several deep, grinding thrusts that pushed his cock against just the right spot and that had Daryl cursing and rocking back too meet him as he pumped his fist over his own dick.

Daryl was nearly silent as he came, eyes squeezed shut tight and jaw open slack to let out a heavy, sobbing breath.

Rick smothered a groan against Daryl's skin as tight heat clenched around his dick. His fingers locked into a bruising grip on narrow hip bones and he fucked hard into Daryl, chasing his own release. "Christ, Daryl. _Fuck!_"

Daryl twitched and trembled like a colt as Rick pressed him close against the tiled wall while they caught their breath. He buried his nose in the other man's wet hair and traced his tongue along his earlobe, lapping at the water droplets clinging there.

Daryl groaned as Rick pulled his softening dick out of him and he was silently glad for the arm still locked tight around his middle, keeping him upright. "Turned my goddamn legs into jelly, you asshole."

Rick rumbled with soft laughter when Daryl slumped back against him. He tilted the other man's soggy head to the side for a kiss.

"Alright?"

Daryl hummed and a crooked grin tugged up one corner of lips that were swollen from kisses and his own teeth digging into them. He glanced back over his shoulder at Rick.

"Yeah. Better'n I've been in a long time."

Rick recognized the echo of his own words and squeezed Daryl's hip, tracing over the faint finger-shaped marks of color already forming on the flesh there.

The shiner on his eye wasn't the only bruise Daryl would wear come morning.

Daryl cleared his throat and tipped his head back to bump it against Rick's. "Gonna use up all the water if we ain't careful, Rick."

Once they felt capable of moving without fear of falling on their asses they finished cleaning up and shut the taps off. Rick grabbed towels from the rack beside the shower and they dried off and pulled on clean (as clean as they came these days anyway) clothes.

After a long parting kiss and a little playful groping in the hallway Daryl bundled up in his vest, coat, and poncho and slipped outside to have a smoke on the deck.

Rick wandered back to the other end of the house where Carl was sitting on the large sectional sofa (he often wondered how in the hell the previous owner had hauled the monstrous thing up into the tree house) in the sprawling living room/kitchen. Beth was sitting at the kitchen table writing and sketching in her little notebook while Judith sat at her feet, gnawing on a stuffed rabbit toy.

Rick stretched out next to Carl on the couch and scooped up one of his son's comics to read by the blue glow of the battery powered lamp on the coffee table.

After a while Rick shifted to lay one leg across Carl's legs, which were stretched out in front of him and propped up on the coffee table. The teenager's lips twitched in an aborted smile and he buried his nose further into his comic.

Rick smirked and crossed his other ankle over so they were both on top of Carl's shins. He pushed down and grinned when Carl tried to hold his own legs against Rick's weight. Rick finally won when Carl's smaller legs gave way and his heels hit the floor with a dull thud. His son laughed and kicked at Rick's feet.

Together they sat in content silence for a long while, thumbing through the comic books and trading them off as they finished them. Distantly he heard Daryl come back inside and putter around the kitchen, talking quietly with Beth for a few minutes before helping her get Judith ready for bed.

While the rest of the house grew quiet the father and son continued to sit together and read. Rick savored these moments with his son but once he began having difficulty keeping his eyes open and he realized how late it was getting he shooed Carl off to bed. The teenager grumbled about being babied but Rick just smiled and handed him a couple of D batteries.

"No sense ruining your eyes trying to read those comics by a flashlight that's too dim. Do your old man a favor and try to get at least a few hours of sleep too, alright?" He added with a conspiratory wink. Carl gave him a sheepish smile and a fast hug before ducking into his room for the night.

Rick checked in on Beth and found the girl wrapped up tight in the pile of quilts and blankets on her bed, sound asleep with a peaceful smile on her face.

The second crib that they had set up in her room for Judith (Beth seemed to take comfort in having the baby close and often kept her during the night) was empty and he smiled softly, knowing just where to find his daughter.

Daryl was already sacked out on their bed. He was curled on his side, facing the wall with his back to Rick, and wrapped up tight in his horse blanket poncho.

Though he could barely see the top of her downy head he knew Judith was tucked against Daryl's chest from the way the man curled protectively around her and from the pillows he had piled behind her to keep her from rolling off the bed.

He smiled at the serene picture and simply stood and watched them for long moments before finally entering the room and quietly pulling the door shut behind him.

He toed off his boots, wincing when bare skin made contact with the freezing floor through a hole in his sock.

Daryl stirred at the soft sounds behind him. He glanced over his shoulder at Rick with one barely open eye before closing it again and pulling Judith tighter against him. The baby sighed happily in her sleep, pleased at having her own personal human heater wrapped around her.

"'Bout time. S'passed our bedtime in here."

Rick chuckled and undid his belt, stepping out of his jeans. "Sorry. Had to make the rounds before turning in."

Rick eased himself down on the bed behind Daryl who grumbled at the jostling. He squeezed into the small space left on his side of the bed from Daryl and Judith taking up more than their fair share of real estate and after leaning over Daryl to kiss Judith's forehead (and then Daryl's, which earned him a snort of quiet laughter) he spread a couple of extra blankets out over the three of them.

"She's got a crib, Daryl. Two cribs, actually." He wrapped an arm around the other man's waist.

Daryl groaned at being drawn out of his attempt to sleep but pressed back against the other man's heat. "She looked cold."

Rick smiled and nuzzled his face against the back of Daryl's neck. He sighed.

They all slept soundly for a couple of hours until Judith woke around midnight and started chattering at them. The good-natured trills soon became sounds of discontent and Rick untangled himself from the bedding and leaned over Daryl to scoop his daughter up.

She was still fussy after he changed her so he made a bottle and rocked her as she drank it down greedily.

Daryl watched them for a while, his eyes at half-mast, before sprawling out across the mattress and drifting back to sleep.

Rick paced and rocked Judith a little longer before getting her settled in her crib once she started to doze off again. He bundled her up tight in a soft blanket and then tucked a couple more around her to make sure she stayed warm.

He had to shove Daryl back over onto his side so he could crawl into the bed.

"Christ you're heavy."

Daryl had surprisingly good aim when he was half asleep as Rick discovered when a fist connected with his shoulder.

Despite the abuse, he spooned up behind Daryl and pressed them tight together from chest and back down to tangled legs. Daryl's body heat had kept the air under the blankets warm while Rick tended to Judith and now it was downright cozy in their bed.

He listened to Daryl's deep, slow breaths, and the rhythmic motion nearly had him lulled to sleep before the other man rolled over to face him, eyes bright in the dark room.

Daryl leaned forward and caught Rick's lips in a warm, easy kiss.

Rick was grinning when they broke apart and Daryl ducked his head, pulling the covers up to his chin.

"What was that for?"

"Just felt like it." He rasped gruffly, burrowing back down into his poncho and the bedding. "How's your ass feelin'?"

Rick smirked and hooked a leg around Daryl's calf. "Fine. How's _yours_?"

Daryl smothered his snort of laugher into the pillow. He then heaved a sigh and flung an arm over his eyes. "Shut it. M'going back to sleep now."

Rick pulled the grumbling lump of blankets that was Daryl closer and tucked his chin against dark, shaggy hair.

"Today was nice."

"Yeah. Yeah it really was."


End file.
